I'd rather wash dishes

I surfed with N at Pipes in Encinitas this weekend. COLD! What happened to the water temp? On Sunday, I paddled a lot for rolling waves that didn't break. I turned to my friend and said, "Where have you taken me?! Don't you know me? I DON'T PADDLE!" But I got some nice long rides that made up for it. It's nice taking off on a wave and consistently finding a shoulder ahead of you.

On Monday, I was frozen because I'd learned my lesson from the day before. Don't paddle for waves that look good on the horizon, but peter out at the line-up. Since I didn't paddle, I didn't stay warm. Still, though, consistently kicking out frontside made the session worthwhile. Now, if only I could learn how to do that going backside.

Tuesday, back at the home break. Sunny. Warm water. BUT it's so hard to go back to those dumpy close-outs when you've had two days with shapely waves. It was so hard to go back to those close-outs that I woke up this morning at 6:30 and briefly pondered loading up the surf gear only to decide to clean the kitchen instead.

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Also, not in surf news, I've been having a hard time giving the Red Cross a monetary donation (but they're getting my blood). I just don't feel like giving a percentage of my dollar to administrative fees in this case. I gave to them when it came to the tsunami in December, but for some reason I feel like the behemoth organization is not the best way to get things done here in the States. That's part of the social ethos that got us into this mess -- we rely too much on a large organization (the federal government and the despicable Bush administration) that doesn't have a clue about what's best on the local level.

(By the way, I heard Halliburton and their subsidiaries have already been awarded the contract to rebuild the military bases in Louisiana. Your tax dollars are going straight into the pockets of Dick Cheney, once he's done with his gig as VP of the U.S.)

I am impressed with the work of a local comedienne named Tig Notaro who will be driving down to her home town of Pass Christian, Mississippi. She's renting a truck in L.A. and making the trek to drive supplies down to Mississippi on Thursday. I'm about to get my ass off this chair and use my lunch break to buy things like bottled water and diapers. It's not going to be tax-deductible, but at least I know that the dollars I spend are going to directly effect a person's life.